The Way Things Could Have Been
by Vampykitty-kun
Summary: When Trunks went back in time to save the world from the inevitable coming of the androids, he knew that the way things had been would change. Little did he know, he changed far more than the time of death for millions of people...
1. Chapter 1

Whoot!

It's been years since I even thought of writing anything DBZ, but once again I plan to tackle it!

This fic is my take on the whole Bulma and Vegeta get together. I know, I know, it's been done a million times, but here it comes again!

Disclaimer: Again, I never bother with disclaimers as everyone knows that no author/director/artist EVER writes anything on ff. net. BUT in this case, as I WILL be using some things directly from the series, such as SOME dialogue, I feel it necessary.

Dragonball, Dragonball Z, and Dragonball GT are property of Akira Toriyama, and multiple recording studios I don't feel like trying to remember names of.

Enjoy!

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"_Woman! I'm a Saiyan Elite, not a variety of flower!"_

Bulma STILL had a private laugh at the image of Vegeta in that shirt. He'd regressed back to typical Saiyan garb...or well, at least as close to it as he could get on Earth. Earth spandex just wasn't the same, and he most often took to simple black spandex shorts, or wore loose blue fighting gi. This of course limited the man, as she refused to let him in public areas.

"_Like I'd want to mingle with your human, weak, commoners in the first place!"_ had been his snobby response before stomping off back into the gravity chamber..

HOW he felt it acceptable to degrade HER and the rest of the human race, AND boss her around in HER home, she'd never understand. Yamcha was no help... all he could say was

"_Throw the Bastard out Bulma."_

Turn Vegeta loose on Planet Earth?

Hell no!

He'd be blowing up towns withing a short few hours. Vegeta had no home, it long ago destroyed by Freiza, so the man no longer had anywhere else to go, since Vegeta's betrayal, and ultimately, Freiza's demise...

She could only be thankful that Freiza had already been disposed of... However, she was still annoyingly curious about who that strange boy had been, having destroyed Freiza in seconds, single handedly, when it had taken everyone, and Goku in the end, to finish him off the first time, was extraordinary. What had been most puzzling though was the boy's Capsule Corp. jacket. She'd never seen the boy before, nor hd she seen him since. Sure, he'd said he had come from the future, but he couldn't have possibly come from that far into it, right?

She'd even gone as far as asking her father if he'd ever seen such a boy at Capsule Corp. he had only beamed at her.

"Why Yes Bulma! That would be myself!" he'd then pulled out a picture of himself from younger years. Instead of being able to snap at him for being ridiculous, she could NOT deny the shocking resemblance between her father and the mysterious boy. This of course had only tormented her more.

Perhaps he was a distant relative of hers?

But of course, it was foolish to think that...after all, the boy WAS a Saiyan...

Maybe someone in her family had gotten together with Gohan down the road? Goku HAD said that Gohan was the only one to survive the android's attack. It could be possible...

"Which one of these do you want Dear?"

Bulma was brought back to reality once more as her m0other rambled on about her tray of sweets.

She listened to her mother and father babble on with little interest in the conversation.

Mindless chatter about sweets...random demands from Vegeta...and her mother fawning over the Saiyan Prince, totally forgetting that her father was there listening to her every word, although...it was not as if he paid much attention to her little crushes on eery man she set her eyes on.

It was times like these she ruly wondered how her parents even got together, let alone stayed together all these years. She could NEVER marry and stay with a man that paid little attention to her and did anything but treat her like a wife...

And just as she was getting ready to slip away from the chaos pf family, it sounded as though someone dropped a bomb on the side of the house, and the foundation shook violently.

Bulma froze, fear creeping into her mind.

From the direction of the explosion, it could only be one thing...the gravity chamber...

"Vegeta!" Bulma screamed, barreling toward the front door, and speeding outside and around the house. "Where is he!" She gasped, racing straight into the mass of ruble.

She was only barely aware of Yamcha's presence behind her, and her parents following shortly after him. She began to lift some of the smaller pieces away, only to fly back in horror as Vegeta's arm launched itself out from beneath it unexpectedly.

Vegeta was badly hurt, she could tell that much. His skin was raw and singed, although she couldn't tell if it had happened during the explosion, or prior to it. Shards of metal had ripped slices into his flesh, and cement debris had scrapped much of his legs and arms up as it had given out below him. BUT he WAS a Saiyan, just like Goku, and that knowledge alone told her that the injuries may not be as bad as they seemed. After years of tagging along with the tail clad boy (although it should have been HIM following HER) she had learned that no battle was too great, nor any injury too severe. Vegeta slowly stood, and indeed he seemed rather unfazed as he slowly stood. It was then that her worry for the arrogant man turned to anger...

"You Ass! You almost wrecked my house! Had the explosion been centered just slightly over, you would have blown yourself straight through the livingroom! You could have seriously injured, or even KILLED someone! What are you trying to prove!" She snarled, breathing heavily.

Then, all anger faded away as quickly as it had come on, as Vegeta crumpled to the ground once more, and she KNEW that she'd been far more content when she'd thought him banged up, but over all fine...

"Oh my God! You're hurt!" She panicked, climbing into the rubble to sit beside him.

She gently lifted him into a sitting position. It was clear that he'd already lost, and was continuing to do so, too much blood for anyone's comfort.

"Get...away..." He groaned. "I don't... need any help... got to train more..." he winced, making a helpless move to release himself from her grasp.

"You've got to stop training for a while! Look at yourself! You're a mess. You could have died!"

She could only sigh as he rambled on about him being absolutely fine (despite his inability to move...). It was sad to see him like this in all honesty... he was just so helpless. It was a whole new experience seeing the proud Prince in such a state. It proved that he was only human...well, mortal at least...

Vegeta rose up once more, a last ditch effort at proving himself fit to return to training, only to again collapse back in on himself.

He did not rise again.

"Dad! We need to get him inside! He's in dire need of some serious medical attention."

In the end, they did manage to get him inside. Her mother had raced to set up the guest room (originally given to Vegeta, who'd never set foot in it, preferring to sleep outside or in the gravity chamber) for medical care, as a makeshift hospital room, monitors and all. It had taken the three of them (Her Father, Yamcha, and herself) to carry the man into the house. Despite being the size of a typical man, he'd proven to weigh far more than any human.

Her father had been able to patch him up well, but int the end, his injuries had proven to have exhausted his body, and he'd been so bad off that her father had attached him to a breathing apparatus to stabilize him.

And now?

Now she just watched him sleep it all off. Even in his dreams it seemed as though the man was fighting. He mumbled in his sleep, occasionally twitching even.

It was times like this that she really wished she knew what he'd been like younger. But even as she thought about it, she realized that he'd probably been no different... after all, Freiza had destroyed the Saiyan home planet just about the time Goku had crashed on Earth. Vegeta would have had to have been young then...

Bulma sighed and rested her head on her arms,

In all honesty, she had no clue how old the man was. She was pretty sure the years of battle had made him appear far older than he truly was. Perhaps he was somewhere around her age? Or could he be much older?

She gave up on that thought process quickly. After all, it wasn't as though he'd actually give her a straight answer if she even dared to ask the man... stubborn bastard...

In all honestly, she wished he'd be more pleasant! She was truly curious about the Saiyan way of life, and what type of planet and civilizations Goku and the other saiyans were born into, and escaped from.

She'd already pumped the Namekians for information during their stay. She'd welcomed their knowledge and stories about their home planet and unique everyday lives. They'd also broadened her knowledge of the Namekian language.

Even though only Piccolo and Kami would understand her if she spoke it, (since there was no longer a Namekian ship to command...) She still took pleasure in knowing that she was the ONLY human that knew the alien language.

She continued dwelling on everything and anything as she watched Vegeta, and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Not too eventful yet, but we'll get there! Chapter 2 will arrive soon, no worries.

I work on many fics at once, but I still manage to update often. Feel free to check out my other fics!


	2. Chapter 2

Hello again! I was very happy with the response I got for the first chapter! I hope you all continue to enjoy this story, for how ever long it takes to complete it.

Bits and pieces are still taken partially from series dialogue, but we'll soon be entering the areas the show sadly skipped. Hope to make you all happy with my time gap fill ins.

I'll continue to try and stay ion character for everyone. There's nothing worse than a DBZ fan fic where Vegeta is way off, so I hope to avoid that.

Again, I update all my fics at random, whenever I specifically feel like writing a chapter for a certain fic.

Hope to see you again soon!

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Yamcha had been given the unpleasant task of cleaning up the ruble scattered across the yard. He'd done this unhappily, and vocalized his displeasure loudly as he tossed unsalvageables into the waste container Dr. Briefs had uncapsuled, and assisted him in transporting the reusable bits and pieces to the man's lab.

"Why the Hell am I stuck doing this crap!" He yelled. " I wasn't the idiot that blew himself up..." He groaned, lifting another large hunk of cement flooring into the large bin.

Dr. Briefs tsked, lighting himself another cigarette.

"Because boy! Vegeta will be in no shape for anything anytime soon, and at my age I can't go lifting anything too heavy. You can lift those slabs far easier than I, as I'd have to break them up into smaller pieces to even dream of moving them. Besides! You were wanting to train anyway, so think of it as heavy duty weight lifting." he'd chuckled, and continued instructing him on what to 0put where.

Yamcha reluctantly continued.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

After Vegeta had awoken from his unpleasant dreams containing fears and memories alike, he'd found Bulma asleep at the desk beside him. This had honestly startled him, as he never slept with anyone else in the room, and back during Freiza's rein over him, he'd made sure that his quarters had been barricaded to avoid entry by anyone during his slumber. Not that it had always worked...

"What is she doing here? Even more so, what am I doing here?" he wondered.

He moved to get up, only to stay in place longer as his entire body flinched.

Ah yes...he'd blown himself up...

He growled and surveyed his surroundings. Clearly, the humans had attempted to heal him, although their technology was rather sub-standard. Oxygen masks and fluid tubes in his flesh, a severe downgrade from the healing tanks he'd become so fond of. They'd stabilized him, but in no way was he healed...

He huffed, and tore the from his veins, and slipped the mask off his face. He'd have to teach the harpy a thing or two about healing technology...at a later time of course...

He stared long and hard at Bulma for a moment, and then took off slowly down the hall. He made his way to the largest bathroom in the complex. He'd long learned to prefer it over one of the smaller dingy ones scattered across the property. He'd endured lack luster and minuscule community bath chambers far too long to accept them now that he was free.

He had to admit it...he was rather lucky this time around, having been allowed boarding at such a facility. Yes, he had to deal with a blonde bimbo who clearly didn't know her head from a hole in the ground, but the old man was far from senile. So long as he kept the training equipment coming, he wouldn't have a complaint about the man. The daughter he just couldn't understand...

She'd traveled to the Namekian planet with little to no guard to protect her, in search of the Dragonballs knowing damn well that others could be in search of them, and yet...she'd gone anyway. Time after time she'd found her self an inch from death, and by pure stupid luck, she'd escaped with not a scratch on her. One lucky woman indeed. He'd thought her rather stupid. He'd been shocked to say the least, to find that she was far from stupid, and a literal genius.

A genius, with horridly bad judgement, and a lack of self preservation.

As if that knowledge hadn't been shocking enough, despite all that she had seen, she'd offered him refuge, sustenance, and a dwelling space of his own.

He'd expected a small lab complex...and then they'd arrived at the large dome of a building on a well off chunk of property. If not huge from the outside, discovering that there were two above ground floors, and three more below, made it prime housing, to say the least.

That was when he'd discovered that this 'Briefs Family' was the closest thing to Royalty on this pathetic planet, even next to it's royalty themselves! The Briefs owned Capsule Corporation, which was in charge of half the planets businesses and resources. Most electronics and forms of transportation were products of the company. The family had more funds than almost anyone on the planet!

In all honesty, he'd have never guessed it looking at either woman or the old man, but he himself had lucked out.

He coasted across the tiled floor and stared, contemplating his next move. On one hand, he could go to the left, and have himself a quick spray-down and get right back to training, or he could step to the right and drop down into the pond of a wash tub...

In the end, his aches won out, and he turned all nozzles of the tub on, hot as it could go. He stepped aside to let the water rise, and he relieved himself at the other end of the room before returning to the steaming water, letting himself seek deep down into it.

He groaned and managed a weak smirk.

The washtub had definitely been the best choice...

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Man...this seriously blows..." Yamcha groaned, dragging a slab of sheet metal towards the center of the lab.

"What was that son?" Dr. Briefs perked up, sliding out from beneath the bowl shaped mass above him.

"Nothin..." He sighed. "Tell me AGAIN why you're building another gravity pod when you already had a spare made?" He set the slab down with a loud thud in front of the man.

Dr. brief chuckled, and ran his hand over the surface of the metal.

"Because Boy, if Vegeta seriously damages this next one, he'll hound me to no end to fix it or build a new one. Don't want to get behind in my work. That man goes through more equipment than the average construction site..." he grinned, marking the top sheet of metal off with a marker.

Yamcha rubbed his temples.

"Then stop making stuff for the guy! All he does is destroy it! It's a waste of your time and money!"

he just couldn't understand why any one would cater to the guy...

Dr. Briefs let out a heavy sigh and shook his head sadly.

"Why? Because it's the right thing to do, Son. Vegeta is a guest in this home, and it's only proper to be hospitable, even if the man has some odd quirks..." He chuckled, fumbling around the desk for his cigarette pack.

"But-" Yamcha went to protest, but unfortunately it was not to be...

"I bet the poor boy grew up without his mother, poor guy..."

Yamcha nearly jumped out of his skin, and Dr. Brief straightened up so quickly he banged his head on the shelf above the desk.

"Dear...some warning please..." Dr. Briefs gave a nervous laugh as his wife set a tray of food and drinks on the work desk.

"Sorry, but I knew you two were working so hard, and thought you must be thirsty! And then I noticed the time, and I was like 'Gosh! They must be hungry by now too!' so I brought you some things!" She smiled sweetly at them. "I'll just be going now, don't want to distract you two from your work now dears!" She waved happily, before taking off up the stairs.

"You know...you have one strange woman for a wife, Sir...no offense..." Yamcha stared off after her.

"None taken my boy! Makes life interesting!"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"So...Puar...when's Yamcha coming back to get you? Don't you normally live with him off in la, la land somewhere in the dessert?" oolong laughed, kicking back and putting his feet on the table, still watching the girls on television doing their jumping jacks out of the corner of his eye.

Puar sighed sadly and her ears and tail slumped.

"Yamcha said it was best I stay with Master Roshi for a while...He's busy training, and I can't help him with that. He's also busy trying to court Bulma... This whole android situation has made him think too much, and he feels as though he should try and settle down while he still can, but he's never been good with that sort of thing, he's always been shy, and embarrasses easily..."

Oolong snorted.

"Shy isn't the word for it Hun...he's not been shy since he grew some balls after meeting the lot of us. Maybe he could settle down with Bulma if he'd stop pissing her off by messing around with the other hot ladies of Planet Earth."

Puar groaned.

"You're right... Yamcha just always had such issues with girls, he can't help himself now that he no longer fears them...it's like he's making up for lost time."

"What's for dinner?" Krillin perked up from the doorway, having just come in from outside. " Roshi's not come back yet from the store, so I'm assuming we're on our own tonight."

He stretched out, then slumped down onto the couch beside Oolong. The pig turned to him and wrinkled his nose.

"Dude, you need a bath. I'm the pig, and compared to you I smell like cherry blossoms..." His eyes narrowed.

Krillin laughed nervously and rubbed his head.

"I've been putting in some serious training time, give me a break! Let me rest up a bit and enjoy myself for a moment. With the Androids only a few years away, I've really got to put forth some mega effort if I plan to stand any chance against them! I'd like to live you guys, I've already kicked the bucket twice now."

"Psh...I still think that guy you guys saw was full of crap..I mean, come on! Androids stronger than any one of you guys? We saw the androids the Red Ribbon Army had years back, and they were hardly anything compared to Goku's brother even. You expect me to believe that there are now 2 that could possibly be stronger than Goku? Nuh uh, not gonna happen."

"Whatever you say Oolong..." Krillin sighed.

Puar just stared out the window sadly.

"Helloooo!" Is anybody home! I'm back!"

"Yeah, we're in here Master Roshi! I'm arguing with Oolong over the androids again...can't catch a break from the guy..."

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Well, I'll leave it here for today everyone!

It's getting late, and I should probably update one of my other fics too before my readers decide to kill me, lol...


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